


You Saved Me Once, Will You Do It Again?

by Jace_Stump20



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Gen, M/M, dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-12-25 01:17:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12025047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jace_Stump20/pseuds/Jace_Stump20
Summary: Years ago, Robert Small saved the life of a young man in his team. He never expected to see the kid again, but three years later, the young man appears on his doorstep, asking for help.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Dream Daddy fic, but I promise it won't be my last. I love Robert/Craig, so yeah. In this Universe, Robert is a retired Army vet, now police officer, and Craig is a personal trainer at a gym, and the twins coach.

September 26th, 2013. 18:22. 

Johnathon Hendrickson, Private First Class in the United States Army, followed his commanding officer and the rest of the men across the desert terrain. They were doing a regular perimeter check, all of them were on high alert. Sergeant Robert Small turned back to look at them, face grave. “Everyone be careful. This area is an old minefield. We’re not sure how many are still active and buried. Jackson, get on that.”

Jackson nodded and pulled out a mine sweeper, scanning the area as they went. Johnathon tried to be as careful as the others, but he didn’t have as much training as everyone else. He had really only just finished Basic a few months ago, this was his first placement. Normally they wouldn’t put soldiers as low ranking as him in with more experienced officers, but times were hard and men were desperately needed on the front lines. That meant that all of the troops who finished Basic were shipped off to the front immediately. As he walked, making sure he stepped carefully, he suddenly heard a familiar click. He froze, tensing up as he looked down, realizing that he was going to die. The rest of the men froze as well, as Robert slowly turned around. “Everyone stay still. Let me check what’s going on.” 

Robert walked among the men, having them back away slowly once he had cleared them. When he got to Johnathon, he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“Stay still. I’m gonna help you out, okay?” 

“Y-Yes sir..” 

Without another word, Robert knelt down, digging the mine out of the sand carefully so he could deactivate it. As he worked, he kept a conversation going with Johnathon, trying to keep him calm. 

“What’s your favorite movie kid?” 

“Umm...Anything Marvel?” 

“Marvel huh? Who’s your favorite character?” 

“Hawkeye.” 

“An interesting choice.” Robert fell silent for a bit, concentrating on his task. 

Johnathon felt his leg starting to hurt, the need to shift his weight growing stronger. He resisted for as long as he could, continuing to answer Robert’s questions. Suddenly, one of the men sneezed and Johnathon flinched, feeling the mine give way under him. Robert yelled and shoved him out of the way, blocking the damage as best he could, burning his hand. Shrapnel hit Johnathon’s leg and he slammed to the ground, hitting his back and head. His leg felt like it was on fire, and he was trying not to cry or scream despite the pain. Tears streamed down his face, and he was dimly aware of Robert calling for a medical evac, and getting the rest of the team to safety. With the pounding of helicopter blades in his ears, he let himself slip into the darkness, dimly aware of Robert crouching over him. “Stay with me dammit! You’re not dying on me now.” 

“Y-yes...sir..” And the blackness took him. 

 

September 27th, 2017. 03:00 

Johnathon came awake with a groan, blinking in the bright light. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he could see he was laying in a medical bay, with bandages on his leg. “W-Where...” Groaning softly, he tried to push himself into a sitting position, taking everything in. 

“Easy son. You’ve been unconscious for 24 hours.” A nurse walked in, holding a clipboard in his hand. “You took some severe damage to your leg, we almost had to amputate. You also suffered deep severe bruising on your back and a minor concussion.” 

“Where’s my team?” Johnathon asked, looking at the nurse, not wanting to acknowledge how badly his leg was hurt. He was just trying to get his mind off the dreaded word, ‘amputate’. He could have lost his leg, all because of one stupid mistake. 

“They’re still at base camp. None of them were hurt except you and Sergeant Small.”

“What’s going to happen to me now?” 

“Some basic therapy to help you recover use of your leg, and then probably back to field placement.” 

Johnathon lay back down, taking a minute to process everything. He would have to do a lot of work to get back to where he’d been, but he had no choice. The Army was where he belonged now.

“I’ll leave you to rest. Therapy begins in a week.” The nurse said, and left Johnathon alone with his thoughts.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Robert walked into the Communications tent, looking around for someone he could talk to. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t at least a little worried about the kid from his team. Johhnnyboy as he called him was still young and despite the hard life he’d chosen, Robert wanted to keep an eye on him. When he found a free man, he walked over and spoke. “I’d like to see the file on Private Johnathon Hendrickson.” 

“May I ask why sir?” 

“Want to make a phone call to his parents to let them know what happened.” 

The solider nodded and went to a filing cabinet, looking through the folders until he found Johnathon. “Here you are sir.” 

Robert took the folder with a word of thanks and walked to an open table to look it over. Johnathon had been pretty quiet about his home life, it was natural in the army to talk about home, about parents, wives, those who were left waiting. But Johnny was always silent while the others talked, looking down at his boots. Opening the file, Robert began to read. 

Name: Johnathon Michael Hendrickson  
Age: 18 years.  
DOB: 10/13/1995  
Rank: Private First Class

Completed basic training third of his class on December 30th, 2016. Has a good attitude with superior officers. No drastic disciplinary action had to be taken with him during basic. 

Important notes: Joined up right after High School graduation, gave no permanent home address or parental contact information. However, has no criminal record or previous name changes. 

Robert closed the file, thinking carefully. If there was no way to get in touch with Johnny’s parents in his file, then he would just have to try to talk to the kid himself and get the information that way. Standing up, he took the file back to the solider he’d gotten it from and went to request time off. 

It was almost a week later before Robert could go visit Johnny. When he arrived at the hospital, he was informed that Johnathon was busy, but he could wait if he wanted. About an hour later he was shown into Johnathon’s room to see the kid laying in bed, relaxing. When he saw Robert, he weakly saluted. “Sir!” 

“At ease Johnny.” Robert said, sitting down. “How you feeling?” 

“Better. My leg’s healing nicely, and with therapy I should be able to walk again in a month or two.”

“That’s good. I wanted to ask, do you have any family you want me to call, let them know what happened?” 

“N-not really, no sir.” 

Robert raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press it. “Alright. Well I just wanted to let you know, when you come home, if you need anything, you can always find me. I’ll help you out.” 

“Thank you sir.” Johnathon saluted again. 

“No problem. I’ll leave you to rest.” Robert stood up and walked out. 

Johnathon closed his eyes and fell asleep. Neither man knew that this wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other, although it would be a few years before their paths crossed again.


	2. Chapter one-All those years have added lines to your face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who comes knocking on the door? Some family fluff and adorableness. Don't get used to it though....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter one! I hope this one turned out okay, I kinda panicked with how to end it. Chapter two might take a bit to update, since I'm busy with school, but I promise it will update. Thanks for reading!

October 15th, 2020, 22:45 

It was a cold, rainy night. Robert Small was relaxing on the couch with his husband, Craig. After getting out of the Army last year, he had moved back to the states and married the man he’d been dating for two years, after the death of his wife while he was overseas the first time. Craig was a divorcee, with three kids of his own, and had met Robert the he was at his his lowest point. He had helped him through the darkness, teaching him to find love and comfort in each other’s company, not the booze he craved so much. Robert proposed before he left the second time, and when he’d come back on leave, they’d been married. Together they had built a life for their new family, moving into a cul-de-sac with other kids and families. 

The girls were all asleep, and Robert and Craig were watching TV when all of a sudden there was a knock on the door. Craig and Robert shared a look, it was really late, way past time for usual company. The knock came again, slightly more urgent, and Craig got up to open the door. Standing there in the rain was a young man, dressed in ragged fatigues and carrying a small backpack. “Hello sir. Is Sergeant Small here?” 

“Umm...yeah bro. One second.” Craig turned towards Robert. “Honey, someone’s here to see you.” 

Robert stood up and walked to the door, eyes widening when he saw Johnny standing there. “Johnnyboy?” 

“Sir!” The kid saluted, looking at Robert. 

“At ease kid. We’re not in the army anymore. What are you doing here?” 

“I came to ask for your help. Please, I have no where else to go. When I got out a few months ago, I went back to where my mother had been staying, and the house was gone. Burned down. No one would tell me anything, and my mother has not been in touch with me. I won’t need to stay forever-”

Robert held up a hand, silencing him. “It’s alright. You don’t have to explain. Come on in.” He stood aside and let the young man in. 

Craig took the bag and carried it to the laundry room, putting it and the contents that he could into the dryer. Robert got dry clothes for Johnny to change into. Once Johnny was changed and dry, Craig gave him some leftovers from dinner. While he ate, he kept rubbing his leg, wincing slightly. 

“Leg still giving you trouble?” Robert asked, having noticed. 

“Yes sir. The therapy they gave me after it happened only really helped me walk again. I still limp badly and the cold and damp cause it to ache and swell a bit.” 

“I’ll see what we can do to help you with that.” Robert said. “Craig here works at a gym, there are a few physical therapists there that can help.” 

“Thank you sir.” Johnathon finished eating and stood up, limping to the sink to wash his dishes.

Robert stopped him. “I’ll wash them. Craig will show you to your room, get some sleep. We’ll talk more tomorrow about how to help you.” 

Johnathon nodded and followed Craig to the guest room, laying down under the covers and falling asleep almost at once. Closing the door behind him, Craig went back to the kitchen to talk to Robert. 

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s the same Johnnyboy from all those stories?” 

“Yeah, it is. He’s a damn good kid, didn’t deserve the bullshit he went through. After his leg was injured, I never saw him again, once he could walk again they moved him to another unit away from the front. I did try to check in and keep tabs on him, but it wasn’t easy. From what I gathered when he was in my team, he didn’t really have a great home life, so I’m not too shocked he showed up here.” 

“What are we going to do? Between the two of us, we work a lot, and the girls have school, River goes to daycare...” 

“Craig it’ll work out. Johnny’ll understand. Tomorrow I have the day off, I’ll take Johnny into town and talk to everyone, see if someone we know will hire him. Get him a job, talk to Hugo about getting him into a community college, get him some therapy.” 

“It sounds like you have everything planned out. I promise I’ll do everything I can to help. I’ll talk to my friends at the gym tomorrow, see if any of my coworkers will help him with physical therapy.” 

“Thanks Craig. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. C’mon, let’s get some rest.” 

 

The next day, the twins woke up and got ready for school, shocked to see a new face when they came out to the kitchen for breakfast. “Who’re you?” Briar asked as she sat down next to the stranger. 

“I’m Johnathon. I know your dad.” Johnny smiled at the girl, eating another bite of egg. Robert had cooked breakfast for everyone and then left to go get River, leaving Johnathon alone in the kitchen. Craig was in the shower. 

“Which one?” Hazel asked, also taking a seat. 

“Robert. We served together in the army.” 

“No way...” Hazel’s eyes went wide. “You’re the kid who almost got his leg blown off!” 

“Did you ever kill someone?” Briar asked, shifting closer to Johnathon, who got a startled look on his face and shifted slightly in his seat. 

“Girls, leave him alone. Shouldn’t you be getting your stuff together for practice today?” Robert thankfully walked back into the kitchen at that moment, making the twins blush and back down, eating their breakfast and heading out the door to wait for Craig to drive them to school. Sitting down with River, Robert got her bottle and started to feed her. “I’m sorry about them. They really don’t mean to bring things back, they’re just curious. I’ve told them some stories, they just want fresh ones.” 

“I don’t mind.” He smiled softly, finishing his food and starting to wash up everything. River babbled happily as she finished her bottle, making Johnathon’s smile grow wider. “She’s adorable. Although I have to say sir, I never thought I’d see you with a baby girl in your arms.” 

“Son, there’s a lot to me that you’ll never know.” Robert said with his trademark smirk, putting a towel over his shoulder and burping River. “Now go get your coat and shoes, we’ve got a busy day.” 

Nodding, Johnathan went to his room, grabbing his army jacket and his worn out boots, walking back out to see Robert bundling River into a winter coat and booties. “We’re gonna drop River off at daycare, then we’re going to the mall to get you some more clothes.” 

Grabbing his keys and holding River close, Robert left the house and unlocked his truck. “You can go ahead and warm her up, I’m gonna put River in her carseat, which takes a while.” Robert tossed the keys to Johnathon, opening the back door and setting River in her seat. She started fussing, and Robert talked to her in a low tone, calming her down as he gently buckled her in. 

Johnathon took the keys and hopped into the front passenger seat, putting the keys in and starting the truck, putting the heat on and relaxing. The truck was clearly well loved, the seats were worn, and the faint smell of cigarette smoke lingered in the air. A carton of cigarettes lay in the middle divider along with a lighter, a pack of gum and a water bottle. Robert finally got River in her seat and closed the back door, walking around the truck and getting in the drivers seat, backing out and heading towards the main city. 

“So Johnnyboy, a few things. I’m here to help you with whatever you need. Today, after the mall, we’re gonna meet a few of the neighbors and try to get you a job. Nothing too hard, so your leg won’t be strained while you go to physical therapy. One of the neighbors on the block is a teacher, I can talk to him about having you go to Maple Bay community college. Also, I’m gonna see if I can get you an appointment with my therapist, help you talk through things. She’s a great woman, you’ll like her.” Robert paused to look over, making sure Johnathon was paying attention. 

“Alright sir. Sounds good to me, but...can’t I get some time to adjust to being in civilization?” 

“Trust me on this kid, I know from experience, the best way to adjust is to jump right in. Staying home and drowning yourself in drink won’t help. I’m not gonna push you harder than you can handle, but I’m going to push you.” 

“I trust your judgement sir. Thank you.” 

Robert pulled the truck into a parking lot of a small building. “You can wait in the car if you want, I just need to take River inside.” “Alright, I’ll be here.” Johnathon agreed, looking out the window. 

Robert took River inside, returning a few minutes later and getting back into the truck. “So, to the mall then.” 

They drove to the mall, just making small talk. Robert pulled in and parked, getting out. “There’s gonna be a lot of people, and a lot of noise. If you need a break, let me know and we can pull back and rest okay?” 

“Yes sir.” Johnathon nodded, looking a bit pale and nervous.   
“Enough with the ‘sir’ kid. It’s just Robert.” 

“Sorry si-Robert.” 

“Good.” He gave another smirk, which was his version of a smile, and headed into the mall, Johnathon following him closely. 

As promised, the mall was loud and flashy. Johnathon stiffened a bit, looking around at everything in shock. Robert shifted a bit closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to ground him. “Come on. I know a few stores you’ll like.” 

Leading Johnny through the crowd, Robert walked towards Dead, Goth and Beyond. Inside the store was quiet and dark, a bit of relief from the chaos of the mall outside. “Go on and look around. If you find anything you want, bring it back here. I’ll help you pay for some stuff.” 

Johnny walked through the store, admiring everything. He grabbed a few band t-shirts and a new wallet, walking back to Robert. 

“That all?”   
“Yeah. I think I gotta binge some more Netflix before I buy more stuff.” 

Giving a small chuckle, Robert led Johnny to the front counter. He paid for the clothes and wallet, looking over at Johnny. “We’ll open a bank account for you, transfer your money here. Once you get a job, and have a more steady income, I expect you to pay me back. Not because I don’t mind helping you out, but because I don’t want you to get dependent.” 

“I understand.” Johnathon smiled. “It’s perfectly reasonable.” 

“Good. Come on, any other stores you wanna check out, or are we done here?” 

“I think I’m okay.”   
“Alright. We’re just gonna make a few stops on the way home to look into getting you a job, is that ok?” 

“Yeah.” Johnny smiled, following Robert out of the mall and back to the truck. Both men climbed in and Robert started driving back to the cul-de-sac, already planning the stops they would make.


End file.
